Poll: 72% of JAs Disapprove of Trump

A poll conducted on the mood of the Asian America electorate prior to the midterm elections found that 72 percent of Japanese Americans disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president.

Overall, Trump’s job approval rating among Asian Americans is at 36 percent approval and 58 percent disapproval. Only Vietnamese Americans registered an overall approval for the president, with 64 percent in favor.

The 2018 Asian American Voter Survey was sponsored by Civic Leadership USA in partnership with the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance AFL-CIO and Asian Americans Advancing Justice.

This report presents the results of interviews conducted by telephone and online from Aug. 23 to Oct. 4, 2018, of 1,316 registered voters who identify as Asian American, producing an overall margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percent.

The poll found that there were differences based on age with young adults (ages 18 to 34) registering the highest level of disapproval.

The number of Asian American voters in the last decade has nearly doubled from about 2 million voters in 2000 to 5 million voters in 2016, or about 3.7 percent of the total voting population.

Other key findings:

Party prospects in midterms: Democratic Party candidates enjoy strong advantages among Asian American voters when compared to Republican candidates, both in U.S. Senate races (52%-28%). Vietnamese American voters prefer Republican candidates in House races, and Filipino voters outside of California have a slight preference for Republican Senate candidates.

Party favorability: Asian American registered voters hold a net unfavorable view of the Republican Party, with 52 percent viewing the party unfavorably and 34 percent viewing it favorably. At the same time, Asian American voters give the Democratic Party a large net favorable rating (58%-28%).

Government services: Asian Americans continue to support bigger government providing more services, including health care access for undocumented immigrants, over smaller government providing fewer services (44% versus 24%). This support is consistent across ethnic groups, including among groups like Vietnamese Americans who are Republican-leaning.

Gun control: Gun control has strong and consistent support among Asian Americans. By a nearly 7-to-1 ratio, Asian American voters favor stricter gun laws in the U.S., with net support strongest among Chinese Americans and the foreign-born. While Democrats show the strongest support, even Asian American Republicans favor stricter gun laws.

Affirmative action: 58% of Asian Americans think affirmative action programs designed to increase the number of black and minority students on college campuses are a “good thing,” and an even larger 66% favor affirmative action programs designed to help African Americans, women and other minorities get better access to higher education.

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